Chronic diseases expert Stampfer set for Discovery Lecture
Meir Stampfer, M.D., Dr.P.H., a leader in using large population-based studies to uncover risk factors for chronic diseases, will deliver the next Discovery Lecture on Thursday, Feb. 10.
His lecture, “Eating, Drinking, and Staying Healthy: Primary Prevention of Chronic Diseases through Diet and Lifestyle,” will begin at 4 p.m. in 208 Light Hall.
Meir Stampfer, M.D., Dr.P.H.
Stampfer is a professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health and a professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
With colleagues in those schools and at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Stampfer is closely involved in studies that are following large populations – the Nurses' Health Studies I and II, the Physicians' Health Studies I and II, and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study.
Each of these studies surveys participants every two years to gather information on diet, smoking, physical activity, medications, health screening behavior and other variables.
The investigators also determine new occurrences of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and other illnesses including diabetes, fractures, kidney stones, and pre-cancerous lesions.
The Nurses' Health Study I, for example, has followed 121,700 female registered nurses since the mid-1970s to search for risk factors for cancer and cardiovascular disease in women. It is one of the largest such studies ever conducted. All of these large-scale studies are continuing.
The Department of Otolaryngology and Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center are sponsors of Stampfer's lecture. For a schedule of the Discovery Lecture series and video of previous lectures, go to www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/discoveryseries.